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June 22, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 4
Leader of Romania’s ruling PSD gets prison sentence in abuse of office case
As of 9pm local time on June 21, upwards of 5,000 people had joined a protest in Bucharest’s Victory Square demanding that Dragnea resign.
The case concerns two people paid by the Teleorman county council, headed at the time by Dragnea, who were actually employed on PSD business.
According to an earlier statement from the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), between 2006 and 2013, Dragnea, who was also the leader of the local PSD branch, ordered
the executive manager of Teleorman's general directorate of social assistance and child protection to violate her duties by keeping two employees on the payroll although they did
not come to work. In fact, the two employees worked for the PSD's Teleorman branch. The two employees and another defendant pleaded guilty.
The DNA had asked for asked up to seven years and six months in prison for Dragnea, and for the suspension of his previous sentence to be cancelled.
Dragnea’s lawsuit was restarted from the begin- ning in October last year, as a judge from the panel was changed after he retired.
While the court ruled Dragnea was guilty of instigation to abuse of office, he was acquitted of forgery charges.
So far, Dragnea has not made any reaction following the court's ruling.
Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said she totally believes in Dragnea's innocence and showed her
support for him as speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. "I believe that those asking the PSD leader to resign before a final ruling is made seriously break the Romanian Constitution
the European directives and the standards of the Venice Commission which guarantee the innocence presumption," Dancila said according to Digi24.ro.
PSD decapitated?
The national executive committee of the PSD is expected to meet on June 22 to discuss the is-
sue. The verdict is likely to lead to internal fights for power within the PSD. Dragnea is seen as leading the party with an iron fist and being the real coor- dinator of the government. The PSD has already appointed three prime ministers since it returned to power after the 2016 general election, with the first two, Sorin Grindeanu and Mihai Tudose, having been replaced after conflicts with Dragnea.
Should Dragnea lose his hold on the PSD, this would also lead to changes in the government, considering current members including Dancila are Dragnea’s close allies.
Dragnea had already received a two year sus- pended sentence for voter manipulation in the 2012 referendum on the impeachment of former President Traian Basescu. The sentence prevent- ed him from becoming prime minister after his party won a landslide victory in December 2016.
He does hold the position of speaker of Romania’s lower house of parliament, but pressure is mounting for him to resign.
As well as the voices from the street, Basescu and former prime ministers Dacian Ciolos and Victor Ponta urged Dragnea to step down following
the verdict. "A politician with two sentences can no longer lead Romania and order the criminal politics of the state," Ciolos wrote on Facebook.
"When you hold a public post, there are other things more important than your personal career. I resigned when I was indicted (wrongfully) in